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Plan for What will Happen, not What might Happen

American Home Shield Creative Campaign Highlights Value of Home Warranty Protection

July 28, 2015 8:38 AM EDT

A new advertising campaign from American Home Shield, the nation’s largest provider of home warranties, showcases the costly risk faced by millions of homeowners who may not fully understand the differences between homeowners insurance and home warranties, which protect consumers against potentially budget-busting covered breakdowns to their home systems and appliances.

“The campaign is designed to be entertaining but also communicate a very important message,” said Mark Barry, president of American Home Shield, a business unit of ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SERV). “Most people have homeowners insurance to protect themselves against what ‘might happen,’ but too few have a home warranty to protect them against breakdowns that will happen.”

Two television commercials are featured in the “Chances” campaign. In the first, a neighborhood is bombarded by meteors, and in the second, a home is lifted away by an alien spacecraft.

Philipp von Holtzendorff-Fehling, chief marketing officer of American Home Shield, says these unlikely backdrops are both attention-getting and symbolic.

“Things like air conditioning systems, refrigerators, washers, dryers, and water heaters break down over time, and when they do, repair or replacement costs can be expensive,” he said. “These types of breakdowns due to normal wear and tear are things that homeowners insurance just doesn’t cover.”

American Home Shield customers, said Barry, use their warranty an average of two times a year. By comparison, according to the Insurance Information Institute, claims are filed on homeowners insurance on only about one in 15 insured homes each year.

As the company works to spread the word about how homeowners can protect their budgets against covered repair and replacement costs, its “Chances” campaign will appear in print, radio and television channels across the nation, as well as a variety of online and social media platforms. The “alien” and “meteor” commercials are also available online at www.YouTube.com/TheAHSTeam.